In U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,320 (filed by the applicant), there is disclosed a anchor line connector to connect an anchor line to a floating body, the connector comprising a housing having two mutually perpendicular pivot axis, a flexible top part and a latch mechanism for allowing movement of the anchor line towards the floating body.
The solution described in this patent concerns a pivoting connector that can pivot around an axis such that the mooring lines can move in radial plane but that can also pivot around another axis perpendicular to the first one. Hence the bending fatigue in the chain part is limited and fatigue failure in transversely oriented links is prevented.
However the fatigue failure and wear can further be optimized by having the tubular member fixed and the connection means decoupled from the pivoting means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,188 discloses a tether connector that includes a first member secured to the sea floor and a second member secured to the lower end of the tether. A ring having a central vertical axis and with horizontal lugs is provided. A cylindrical receptacle also having a central vertical axis and including a primary guide, a vertical slot, a secondary guide and a notch is provided. The ring and receptacle are mounted on the members to permit relative rotation between the ring and receptacle about the central axis of the tendon. The solution proposed aims at securing tethers to a sea floor receptacle mechanism, these solutions are not ideal as inspection of the articulation in dry environment are not possible without disconnecting, further maintenance operation are not eased.
The present invention proposes a solution which would enable to have a chain connector that can accommodate any type of mooring leg. The main advantages of the system according to the present invention are the ability to be operated without the need for divers, both during connection and disconnection. This chain connector can be easily disconnected with a simple pulling operation, and can be brought on the deck of a supply vessel. This feature allows an easy inspection of the articulation in dry condition without the need to disconnect. The chain can be retensioned, by cutting off excess chain links. Furthermore, on the supply vessel deck the parts that may have been affected by wear can be eventually replaced. The overall size and weight are reduced with respect to standard connectors allowing therefore reduction of the buoyancy requirements of the moored floating structure